Jan Dijkema of the Netherlands, Frenchman Didier Gailhaguet, Britain’s Christopher Buchanan and Hungary’s György Sallak will each challenge to succeed long-serving President Ottavio Cinquanta.

The Italian has been head of the ISU for 22 years and was originally due to step down as President in June 2014.

In 2012, however, Cinquanta and his Executive Council decided to delay elections until 2016, allowing the then 75-year-old to remain in office, despite having reached the age limit.

The ISU made the announcement of candidates after the deadline for submissions officially closed on Monday (April 25).

The elections are due to take place at the ISU Congress in the Croatian city from June 6 until 10.

Dijkema is currently ISU vice-president for speed skating and became the final candidate to declare his intention to run for Presidency earlier this month.

French Skating Federation President Gailhaguet had been the first to announce his candidacy in October before Buchanan and Sallak followed suit.

Gailhaguet is a controversial candidate having been a central figure in the judging scandal that hit the 2002 winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.

At the 2002 Olympics, Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze won the figure skating pairs title before Gailhaguet was accused by French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne of pressuring her to put the Russians ahead of Canada’s Jamie Sale and David Pelletier.

Le Gougne later retracted the allegation but the International Olympic Committee awarded the Canadians duplicate gold medals.

The ISU suspended Le Gougne and Gailhaguet for three years in April 2002, and banned them from the following Olympics, at Turin, in 2006.

The scandal led to a revamp of the scoring system in figure skating.

It included the abolition of the "six" made famous when Britain's ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean had been awarded 12 perfect 6.0s after skating to Maurice Ravel's Bolero at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. 

Gailhague has released a manifesto, entitled Change or Be Changed, based around modernising and reforming the governing body.

It includes revamping ISU events and considering new formats, updating the international calendar and bringing together different disciplines so a festival-style event will work better for broadcasters.

Buchanan has been chairman of the ISU Synchronised Skating Technical Committee since 2010 and is also finance director of the National Ice Skating Association of Great Britain.

Away from sport, he has spent over 30 years in the investment banking, commodities and financial services industries for a variety of leading banks and financial institutions.

Dijkema has prioritised three strategic pillars consisting of marketing, promotion and digitalisation, development and good governance in a manifesto desgned to "inspire and innovate".

Sallak is director general of the Hungarian National Skating Federation as well as the ISU development coordinator.

His bid has already been criticised for allegedly using his ISU position to help promote his bid.